The Best Arthouse Cinemas In Zagreb, Croatia

Cinema is an essential part of Zagreb’s cultural heritage, which is precisely why local enthusiasts have revived filmic landmarks such as the former Rex and Europa pre-war picture houses. What’s more, they put them to good use with adventurous programming. Check out places where you can watch independent films around Zagreb.

Art Kino Grič

Set in the former Rex cinema that sat on the ground floor of the Hotel Tri Gavrana in the 1930s, the revived Art Kino Grič was also where whole generations first gawked at Spaghetti Westerns, kung fu, and Western eroticism in the 1970s. Reopened in 2012, the Grič screens non-mainstream movie fare, mainly independent works from America as well as European arthouses.

Kino Europa

An arthouse cinema par excellence, Kino Europa has a filmic pedigree second to none. Conceived as the most beautiful picture house in the Balkans, the Europa was unveiled in 1925 with Fritz Lang’s then recently released five-hour classic, ‘Die Nibelungen’. Fallen into disuse, it was revived and revamped by the Zagreb Film Festival and city council, and now stages all kinds of cinematic events, including a silent classic with the Zagreb Philharmonic accompanying.

Kino Tuškanac

Set in the leafy suburb of the same name and within easy reach from Zagreb city centre, the Kino Tuškanac is known both for its adventurous programming – recent seasons include Norwegian cinema and Yugoslav-era documentaries – and its atmosphere. Winter screenings take place in a stately building surrounded by trees, while summer screenings occur in an open-air amphitheatre. Look out for the statue of Charlie Chaplin just outside.

Metropolis Art Cinema

Within the complex of the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Metropolis Art Cinema has been showing mainly quality arthouse films from Europe and America since opening in the Gorgona Hall in 2010. Croatian shorts and features are also screened but the stock in trade here are works that pleased the judges at film festivals in Cannes, Berlin, and Karlovy Vary.